Kate on Beautiful Gate party

Today Kayla, Meaghan, Lianna, Dana, Joe, and I all went to Beautiful Gate to volunteer at a party they were having for the children who attend the Crossroads ARV clinic. The trek there was rather long, involving 2 mini bus rides and 2 train rides, and although we racked in almost 4 hours in travel time, the party was definitely worth the journey. Ever since our first time at the clinic, Kayla and I have been passing out invitations to the children at the clinic. Over 500 people kids were invited, and the party is an event Beautiful Gate holds every year for these children. 2 separate companies sponsored the party, and volunteers from both places came out to enjoy the day. The event began when all the children, their parents, and the volunteers and staff gathered in the Chapel at Beautiful Gate. One of the volunteers led the children in a few songs – most seemed to be faith related – and then closed the “opening ceremony,” with a prayer. It continues to amaze me how religious and spiritual the Xhosa people of this country are – and I’ll be the first to admit how close I was to crying today at the sight of the children, most of them strangers, joined together in song.

The children were then split up according to age, and the different groups went off to participate in various activities. Most of us spent the majority of the time with the 0 to 5 year olds – something that involved face painting, and chasing children around the playground. It was really fun to see the kids in a venue other than the clinic, and I even had a few mother’s ask me if I remembered their children. As the activities began to wind down, the 6 of us got pulled away to help serve food. We spent the remainder of the time serving food and picking up trash, and before we knew it all the kids were gone.

Dana, Meaghan, Ntswaki, Kayla, Kate, & Lianna at Beautiful Gate

But we weren’t ready to leave yet! Naturally, the 6 of us wound up in one of the cottages where all the young children who live at Beautiful Gate were gathered. We took turns picking up the children, and passing around our favorite baby in town, Iya. When the afternoon started to come to a close, we decided it was best to begin out adventure home. It was very interesting to experience riding a train through the townships. The number of people who approached us about our destination and mode of travel, all clearly worried about our safety, was very surprising to me. As we handed a man our train tickets as we left the train station in Cape Town, he said to us, “You’re coming from Stock Road?!? How was that?” His comment sums up the general reaction to the 6 of us taking the train – shock. The day was full of firsts – and was definitely one for the books!!